GEOFFREY CHAUCER (1340-1400)
(The Canterbury Tales: 1387-1400)
CHAUCER: LIFE AND WORKS
Chaucer's Life:
A brief account of Chaucer's life suggests why he was amongst the most innovative of 14th century
writers, and how he came to have a first-hand experience of all classes of society.
1. He was born in early 1340s of a prosperous family of wine merchants. The family's rising
fortune and connection with the court gave Chaucer an excellent position in life among the
merchant class.
2. In 1360, he was captured in France while serving in the British Army. The king himself paid
his ransom and got him released. This incident indicates his already established court
connection. During the 1360s, he saw further military service abroad.
3. During the next thirty years, he was sent on several diplomatic missions to France and Italy.
This gave him an ample opportunity to gain familiarity with all the latest developments in art
in Europe, and to meet many leading writers.
4. During this period, he was appointed Controller of Customs in the Port of London. It was an
influential
position which gave him considerable experience of life in the City. Certainly, be came into
contact with most of the men of importance in London.
5. In 1985, he was appointed Justice of the Peace for Kent.
6. In 1386, he sat in Parliament as Knight of the Shire.
7. His appointment in Somerset, sometime later, meant that he spent quite a lot of time in the
country (rural area) during the 1390s. This gave him the experience of country life.
8. He enjoyed up to the end of his life the royal favour of King Richard II.
9. He died in 1400, and was buried in Westminster Abbey
From this outline of his life, it can be seen that Chaucer had direct experience of nearly all social
types described in The General Prologue, and that he was by turns a courtier and diplomat, a city
business man, and a country man. There can be no doubt that this rich and wide experience is the
main cause of the vividness and quality of the portraits in The General Prologue.
Chaucer's Works:
Chaucer's work is often thought of as belonging to three basic phases, known as The French, Italian,
and English Period:
1. French Period: Translations and Romances: The Romance of the Rose, The Book of the
Duchess
2. Italian Period: The influence of Dante and Boccaccio Art of Story-telling
3. English Period: His own distinct style; longer poems, lyrics, a scientific manual; his interest
in real life and the people around him.
Chaucer's Important Poems:
1. The Book of the Duchess (1369)
2. The Parliament of Fowls (1377-1382)
3. The Hose of Fame (1379-1384)
4. Troilus and Criseyde (1382-1385)
5. The Canterbury Tales (1387-1400)
6. The Legend of Good Women (1384-1386)
The Canterbury Tales:
The Canterbury Tales concerns the pilgrimage made by a group of some thirty men and women, from
London to the shrine of St. Becket, the 12th century martyr, at 4 Canterbury. The pious Christians
journeyed to this place for spiritual reinforcement. The trip from London to Canterbury at that time
consumed three or four days (distance about 60 miles). This trip Chaucer seems to have planned as
follows:
April 17: Southwark to Dorford
April 18: Dorford to Rochester
April 19: Rochester to Ospringe
April 20: Ospringe to Canterbury
The assembly point was commonly at Southwark on the south bank of the Rive. Thames on site
London. The pilgrims stayed at an inn called Tabard.
Chaucer describes each pilgrim and at the end sets up a framework for the story-telling which follows.
Each pilgrims promises to tell four stories, two on the way to Canterbury, and two on the way back. In
this way there should have been 120 tales, but, in fact, there are only 24 tales told by 23 pilgrims.
Perhaps Chaucer changed his plan later on, or died before he could complete the book. A brief outline
of the two parts of Book is as follows:
1. The General Prologue (Three Sections)
(a) Description of Spring season and people's desire to go on tours and to visit holy places, especially
Canterbury
(b) Introduction of thirty pilgrims: The most important of them are:
The Knight; The Squire; The Prioress; The Monk;
The Friar; The Merchant; The Doctor of Physic;
The Wife of Bath; The Clerk; The Parson; The Miller;
The Summoner; The Pardoner
(2 military men; 6 church men; 4 middle class people; 2 women; one scholar)
(c) Plea for Realism: General Principle of realistic description, justification for vulgar elements and
criticism on religious persons.
II. Tales told by the Pilgrims (24 Tales)
(a) Originally planned: 120 Tales
(b) Really present in the Book: 24 Tales
(c) The Tales are very interesting, giving us a picture of life and people in 14th century. The tales vary
enormously in every respect, both in length, style and subject matter. The sequence begins with the
Knight's Tale, and the Parson's Tale stands at the end. The Parson's Tale is a long sermon on Patience
and Seven Deadly Sins. As the pilgrims represent a quest of the spirit, it is fitting that the work should
end with a sermon.
(d) The Tales show that Chaucer was a master of narration. Some of the critics are of the opinion that
these tales are, in fact, the beginning of English Novel
